Mahou Sensou:Volume 1 Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: Wizard's Rule

Part 1

Ida Kazumi was a student at Sakuraya High School. However, most of the time he did not wear his uniform. Not because he hated school (even though the teachers looked at him with suspicion, and his classmates made expressions as if there was a monster among them always holding him as the vilest). He just let it all go and took it easy, since he had promised his mother that he would graduate no matter what. Ida didn't have his father and therefore, she had become the most important thing so he would never betray her. He would never break his promise to her. Although his grades were not good, he was still within the necessary limit to pass the course.

During the three years he would be there, he would have to grudgingly put up with all the prejudices against him. There were very few students whom Ida could call "friends". (not to say that there were none) and no matter how hard he tried to make conversation with his classmates, it was more than clear that he was just a nuisance and they always looked at him with dread. For that reason, there came a time when he stopped doing so.

However, Nanase Takeshi treated him differently. To Ida, Takeshi was someone special even though he was not very talkative, not very studious. Just an average boy with a few friends in class, who attended the kendo club. He didn't excel at anything and wasn't too serious, so he was the perfect normal kid. The only unusual thing was that Takeshi had the same kind attitude with Ida that he had with other people. Perhaps, if the first time the two of them had spoken in the classroom, Ida might have disliked Takeshi. He had many friends with whom he got along very well, which was not a bad thing for Ida. Otherwise he would have considered the act of talking to him as an act of hypocrisy. However, Ida met Takeshi in a very different place than at school. Takeshi didn't remember that, but Ida kept it in the back of her mind.

It was a Sunday, when school was closed. Ida was standing with her younger sister in front of the station, but at one point they separated and she got lost. While he was looking for her, a series of mishaps occurred.

On a busy sidewalk, the sound of a bicycle falling was heard. Ida rushed to the scene with a bad feeling and indeed found his sister there crying. Every time he recalls that moment, Ida's hair stands on end. For it was Takeshi who was standing there, and with great aggression he trampled the bicycle lying on the ground and grabbed a delinquent riding on it by the neck causing him to get up while shouting at the guy in great anger.

What he understood from Takeshi's words was that the guy was riding the bicycle on the sidewalk at high speed. On the other hand, it seemed that the bike the guy was riding was dangerous, as it was one of those so-called "track bikes" that have no brakes equipped. The guy apologized when he understood that he might have hurt the little elementary school girl, Takeshi gave him a push and kicked the bike to the corner of the street.

Finally Ida approached her crying brother and although Takeshi looked at him, he didn't know it was Ida or that he was her classmate. At the time, Ida was wearing a large woolen cap that concealed his blonde hair as well as a particular flashy outfit. But even if he had been wearing a uniform, he would not have recognized him. Ida also didn't know that Takeshi was a classmate.

They had barely been attending high school for five days. Takeshi simply advised Ida not to let go of his little sister's hand and then left without further ado. The next day, Ida's astonishment when he ran into Takeshi in the classroom was monumental. Takeshi, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice anything, perhaps because he didn't remember.

But from that moment on, Takeshi became for Ida someone out of the ordinary in the classroom. As he watched him, he noticed that Takeshi had a big cut on the back of his hand, and then he remembered that his little sister had told him that Takeshi had stepped in front of the speeding bicycle and stopped it to protect her.

Takeshi's manner at school, compared to the angry Takeshi with that guy on the bike when he was on the street, had Ida completely confused. At school, Takeshi seemed like a serious and impeccable student, he was a very sociable person who could get along great with anyone. However, you could tell that he had suppressed his emotions as much as possible. In fact, he was someone who did not like to get involved in any kind of trouble and used to subtly move away from people who represented some kind of mishap in order not to get involved.

Hardly someone like that would get into a fight over someone else. But now, being classmates and friends, and also for having saved his little sister, Ida was helping Takeshi find an escape route, yet he couldn't help but be a little intrigued as well. For some reason, that stoic kendo student, whose girlfriend was none other than Isoshima Kurumi, the most desired girl by all the boys in the school. That Takeshi who never missed a single class, was running hand in hand with a woman with blond and curly hair (very beautiful by the way) who looked like a college student, trying to run away from some guys who were chasing them.

Seeing that situation, anyone would be interested. After the narrow hallway of the building, there was a cargo entrance. Ida went out that way, and suddenly while waiting behind a truck parked there for Takeshi to come out, he was completely stunned for a moment.

"Ishoshima? But how...?"

The woman who accompanied Takeshi out of the door was no longer the beauty he had seen before, but was Isoshima Kurumi. (Obviously Kurumi was also very beautiful). She stared at Ida who was stunned and asked:

"What, is it wrong for me to come too?"

"Hey, where is that beautiful onee-san who came with us?"

Ida shook her head from side to side, looking behind Takeshi for that girl, but there was only Kurumi. The curly-haired beauty had vanished.

"I'm sure I saw her." Ida looked coldly at Kurumi.

"Aah? you're sure you saw... what? I don't know what you're talking about."

Having been denied what he had seen, Ida, annoyed, turned to Takeshi.

"Nanase, where is the girl from earlier?"

However, Takeshi did not react in any way.

"Ehh..."

"That's enough, for God's sake! Remember that they're still chasing us." Kurumi said, pointing to the exit door.

At that moment both Takeshi and Ida tensed up.

"That's right, come this way!" Ida said, walking away from the truck and the building.

As she continued on her way, Kurumi held tightly to Takeshi's hand.

"Takeshi, I..."

"Ahh, you're back to your old self." Takeshi said, smiling at Kurumi who looked uncomfortable.

Certainly Kurumi's appearance was different until a while ago. It was when that girl from <the Trailers> named Hotaru started to forcibly apply lipstick on her, that she was surrounded with particles of magic power and changed her appearance. At first Takeshi was shocked to see that Kurumi had completely transformed into someone else as they ran while holding hands.

Her appearance was that of a young woman in her twenties with curly hair. Even they ran he couldn't help but cast sidelong glances at him from time to time, but he recognized the features of her own face. So I had a clear idea of what had happened. Kurumi had changed her appearance, probably increasing her age by 4 or 5 years. Takeshi pondered about the systematic magic the headmistress had mentioned.

If the guys in <the Trailers> had mentioned that Takeshi's magical affinity was "Evasive Magic", then Kurumi who had also become a wizard, must also have a magical affinity. Transformation magic had been something completely mind-blowing, but because Kurumi was frightened and bewildered by such a change, Takeshi was trying to handle the matter as delicately as possible.

"It seems that after a while you are back to normal." Takeshi mentioned with a shrug.

"I didn't feel like myself. It was awful." Kurumi replied.

"I like you just the way you are."

"Really?" Kurumi asked staring at him.

Takeshi nodded calmly and answered.

"Of course."

Hearing that Kurumi smiled. and putting her hand on her chest she thought, "I don't have to worry about that anymore."

Part 2

Although Ida had managed to get them out of the building, Takeshi stopped at a park near the station from where they had left. It was getting late, but they had decided to take a break as they were exhausted and thirsty from running in the heat. As it was summer, the park was practically empty. Takeshi and Kurumi sat together on a bench and Ida sat on a nearby swing. The three of them were drinking tea they had bought from a vending machine. But suddenly, Ida took out her cell phone and after looking at the screen for a while, exclaimed:

"I got an email from my sister!"

He stood up cheerfully and approached Takeshi and Kurumi.

"It looks like mom went out early today and is already home."

"She went out early?" Takeshi asked.

"Yes, our mother is a nurse. When she has to work at night, I have to be at home so that Futaba is not alone, so that's why they send me an email.

At that moment Ida started frantically operating her cell phone.

"Look, this is our Futaba."

He showed the screen of his cell phone to Takeshi and Kurumi.

"She's cute, isn't she?"

Seeing the image of an elementary school girl on the screen, Takeshi nodded with some hesitation.

"Y-Yeah..."

That elementary school girl shown in the picture had pigtails and was smiling, showing that she was missing her front teeth. Kurumi who was looking at the photo sitting next to Takeshi, had no reaction and muttered:

"Yes, more or less..."

There was no compliment in those words so Ida and Takeshi turned to look at Kurumi involuntarily.

"What?!" she asked

Seeing that both boys had stared at her, Kurumi turned away angrily.

"There's no need to get angry." Ida replied.

Ida let out a sigh, and Takeshi suddenly lowered his head apologetically.

"Why are you apologizing?" -Kurumi asked indignantly.

She pursed her lips and turned her face away from both of them again.

"Do you two... have siblings?" Ida asked as he put his cell phone in his pocket.

"I'm an only child," Kurumi answered with a sidelong glance.

"I thought so." Ida said instinctively.

Kurumi glared at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. And you Nanase?"

Takeshi hesitated to answer Ida.

"I..."

"He has a younger brother," Kurumi answered instead of Takeshi.

"Hee...your younger brother must be very serious and honest like you."

"..."

Takeshi didn't answer anything. It was very complicated to answer about what kind of person Gekkou was. even though he was his younger brother, he didn't know much about him.

"Hey, I'll go take a look around the station. They don't know me after all."

Ida had noticed how thoughtful Takeshi had been getting, so he finished the conversation and after throwing the plastic bottle of whatever he had been drinking into the trash can, immediately ran out of the park. Takeshi drank tea from a plastic bottle that had already warmed up in his hands. Whenever it was about Gekkou, Takeshi simply could not be calm. Sitting next to him, Kurumi noticed Takeshi's melancholy expression.

"Still not?" she asked.

At Kurumi's words that sounded like a complaint, Takeshi replied:

"It's useless..."

"If you want, I can talk to Gekkou." said Kurumi.

"Don't even try."

He didn't want anyone to go between him and Gekkou. That was Takeshi's thinking and Kurumi was aware of that. But now Kurumi is trying to do something different.

"Listen, it wasn't your fault."

"..."

"It was an accident."

Takeshi had said those same words to himself on more than one occasion. Doctors, nurses at the hospital and his parents had all said the same thing to him. Everyone had said it except Gekkou. Since only Gekkou and himself knew what really happened.

"It was my fault. I pushed him and that's why he..."

"Even if you pushed him, I know you didn't do it on purpose. You and Gekkou are rare boys."

"..."

Takeshi was aware that Kurumi was saying that because she was worried, but his patience had run out and he was holding back from yelling "Leave me alone" at her. For him, there was no excuse for forgiving someone who ruins his little brother's promising future. Besides, Takeshi lived remembering more clearly than anyone else, the exact moment when he pushed him. He had clearly pushed Gekkou with his own hand into the road.

It happened during the summer vacation two years ago. Takeshi and Gekkou were on their way home after practicing Kendo in the neighborhood dojo. In the evening when the heat had already gone down, they were walking along a very narrow road which didn't even have anything that could be called sidewalks, just a couple of white lines painted on each side.

The two conversed in the most natural way as they walked ahead of each other. Unlike Takeshi who was able to control his anger, Gekkou had a completely angry personality. Gekkou was someone who did not like to lose. There were many occasions when he would end up arguing with other people.

That day was no different, on the walk Gekkou insisted on being the first to take a shower when they got home. As usual, Takeshi simply agreed saying there was no problem. Most of the time as an older brother, it was best to let Gekkou do as he pleased, as it was no bother to him. It was at that moment when Gekkou who was walking ahead changed the topic of conversation.

"Hey, Takeshi..."

"What?"

Since long ago, Gekkou used to refer to his older brother only as "Takeshi".

"I wanted to talk to you about Kurumi..."

Takeshi didn't notice, but Gekkou stuttered a little as if what he was about to say was something embarrassing and difficult to say.

"What's going on with Isoshima?" Takeshi asked.

"You know, there are rumors going around the school that you are dating her, did you know that?"

"Yeah, I knew."

It turns out that just two weeks after Kurumi suffered the stalker attack, Takeshi made a deal with her to pretend to be her boyfriend. It didn't take long for that rumor to spread around the school, which Takeshi quickly found out about. But obviously no one was telling it like it really was. Neither did Gekkou.

"I've denied it as much as possible, but I think you should also say that it's not true." Gekkou continued.

However, Takeshi kept silent, thinking about what to do with what Gekkou (who didn't believe the rumors) was advising him to do.

"Takeshi?"

Turning back a little Gekkou called out to the silent Takeshi. Takeshi didn't like to lie to Gekkou, so he had to do the inevitable and tell him the truth.

"The truth is, Isoshima and I are dating."

"W-what are you saying? You're lying right?"

Turning back completely, Gekkou was dumbfounded.

"I'm not lying, it's truth."

Eyes wide with shock, Gekkou couldn't believe it even though he heard it clearly from Takeshi's mouth.

"W-Wait a second. Why would you and Kurumi do that so spontaneously? I mean, I know you're childhood friends but... you hadn't said anything."

With nothing more to say to the bewildered Gekkou, Takeshi kept silent again. On the other hand, Gekkou began to mutter.

"Takeshi and Kurumi don't make a good couple..."

But no matter how much he protested, Takeshi was not to blame.

"That's the way it is."

After saying that, he went ahead of Gekkou to get home earlier.

"I don't understand... what's going on?"

While shouting Gekkou followed Takeshi.

"Why are you angry? It shouldn't be something that matters to you."

"Of course I care!"

Suddenly, Gekkou grabbed Takeshi by the bogu bag hanging on his back.

"Hey..."

Pulling back, he made Takeshi stop in his tracks. A huge truck sped past on that narrow, two-lane street, coming very close to brushing Takeshi.

"You're an ordinary guy, even I'm better at Kendo than you!" Gekkou exclaimed.

"Be careful..." Takeshi said, thinking more about the place where they were, than what his brother was saying.

"I'm closer to Kurumi than you are!"

Gekkou let go of Takeshi's bogu bag who still hadn't tidied up his bad posture, and stepped forward to try to run away.

"Hey, wait!"

At that moment, Takeshi grabbed Gekkou's shoulder.

"Let me go!"

"Listen, this whole thing was not my idea. You have no right to protest what she decided to do."

"Ahh!? That means you used Kurumi's trauma with the stalker to your advantage, right? That's the most vile thing you could have done, Takeshi."

"You're wrong."

"That's enough. Get off me!"

Gekkou forcibly got rid of Takeshi's hand and pushed Takeshi's chest making him retreat a few steps. Gekkou himself also moved back a little from the force of the push.

"Gekkou!"

At that moment a white colored car jumped into Takeshi's sight approaching from the left lane. Gekkou, who was in front, could see the car more clearly.

"Aah?"

Gekkou stopped as his bogu bag slipped off his shoulder.

"Gekkou!"

For some reason that Takeshi didn't understand, he ended up pushing Gekkou unconsciously. He may have just been trying to pull Gekkou away from danger and a miscalculation of distance caused him to push him instead of grabbing him, but regardless of the reason, it didn't change what happened.

That hand with which he tried to grab his brother Gekkou's arm, pushed him off the shoulder and Gekkou's body leaned towards the inside of the road within the reach of that white vehicle that finally ended up hitting him full force sending him flying through the air.

Takeshi stood completely motionless watching Gekkou fall to the ground. After his parents rushed to the scene in a short time Gekkou was rushed to a hospital. There, he had to undergo surgery. Meanwhile, no matter how many times Takeshi was asked about what happened, he didn't say anything because he didn't know what to answer. His memories before and after what happened had been clouded and he was so shocked that he could not even speak.

"We had to operate on his son's right knee in order to reconstruct the meniscus."

What the doctor had said after the operation was like a nightmare for Takeshi.

"He will recover after rehabilitation. I don't think he'll have any trouble walking after this."

Next to his tearful mother and silent father, Takeshi lay completely confused. But the restlessness wouldn't leave him alone and he asked the doctor a question. In his mind he thought everything would be all right, but still, he had to ask for gekkou's sake and also for your own sake.

"Doctor, Gekkou practices Kendo. Will he be able to continue to do so after this?"

The doctor frowned and stared at him.

"It will be very difficult for him to return to sports. If he does, it will put a great strain on his bad knee."

"It can't be... that's terrible." The mother burst into tears again.

Hearing such news for her parents, who had always shown favoritism towards the innocent Gekkou, was as if they had heard their own death sentence. The mother was still crying while the father, with an expression that seemed to be either fury or frustration, bowed his head.

With a slight sobbing that caused a great pressure in his chest, Takeshi's mind sank into a dense fog. And from that day on, every time Takeshi thinks of Gekkou, his mind goes into complete darkness. Naturally he considered giving up kendo. The reason he had not quit, however, was because he had to accept reality. Giving up kendo was not going to make Gekkou well. However, in the dojo they began to view him in a hostile manner. But Takeshi continued to attend the dojo alone until he graduated from high school.

There, there was no place for him anymore. And the situation at home also changed completely, as Takeshi began to be treated as a stranger. His mother had worn down from accompanying Gekkou in his arduous rehabilitation work and looked very haggard. His father would sink into work to avoid coming home, and Takeshi, silent, avoided talking to them and behaved as if he were a ghost. After two years, Takehsi had never had a conversation with Gekkou again.

Even if he tried, Gekkou would simply ignore him and walk away clicking his tongue in disgust. It was completely impossible to get along with him. For that reason, the two years spent under those conditions had become eternal.

While Kurumi was talking bringing up the subject of Gekkou, Takeshi had remained pensive, however, his body was shaken by a spontaneous electronic sound. He immediately reached into the bogu bag he was carrying across and pulled out his cell phone that was ringing. He answered the call quickly the screen without seeing who it was.

"Hello..."

The reply was immediate.

<Takeshi-kun?!>

"Mui?"

<You know, I think it's dangerous to be there after all. I want you to go back to the academy the way I taught you.>

Because it was the second time they talked on the phone, Takeshi looked more relieved than surprised by Mui's sudden call.

"You're right, I thought it would be better to go back too. Those guys just ambushed us a while ago."

<Are you ok?>

"Yeah, we somehow managed to lose them, but it doesn't look like they're going to give up easily."

As Takeshi spoke, he noticed Kurumi beside him, watching him with some suspicion and for some reason he frowned. Takeshi tried to flash her a smile, but Kurumi's displeased expression didn't change.

<Do you have any mirrors nearby that are big enough? If you can find one, you can come back here right away.>

After hearing those words from Mui, Takeshi stood up. However, because the place they were in was a small park, it didn't seem to have bathrooms where he could find mirrors.

"It's useless. There are no mirrors nearby." Takeshi replied after glancing around.

<Is there any other place nearby where you can find a mirror?>

"Well... considering where we are, the school is the closest thing we have."

the school was located somewhere in between his house and that park.

<The school? That's fine. I'm on my way there right now. I'll come for you,> Mui replied.

"It's not necessary. I remember well how to get back."

<Do you really think you'll be ok?> Mui insisted.

but Takeshi answered with an unexpected tone full of confidence:

"Yeah, don't worry. So, I'll meet you in the hall of mirrors."

<Okay.>

After ending the call with Mui, Takeshi faced Kurumi and her annoyed expression, but before he could explain anything, Kurumi asked:

"Since when did that girl have your number?"

"Since before we came back."

"Huh..."

Putting the cell phone back in the briefcase, Takeshi felt strange again the fact that Mui was in an academy located in a different world. The original World and The Ruined World, they were connected through a phone call.

When they exchanged numbers, Mui had told him that she had used magic on his cell phone which was similar to the portals in the mirrors in order to connect the two worlds. There was a moment when she had taken the battery out of Takeshi's cell phone, so it had possibly been at that moment when she had done her magic stuff. Kurumi let out a heavy sigh after hearing about what Takeshi had talked to Mui on the phone and said:

"Well, she's right, we can't go back home, so we have no choice."

However, Ida, who had returned just as Takeshi was talking on the phone, had no idea what was going on.

"So... What were you talking about?"

Based on his demeanor, he didn't seem to have run into the guys chasing them anywhere in the park. Takeshi didn't say anything and just apologized to him as he walked with Kurumi out of the park as it was too complicated to explain the matter to Ida at that moment.

"I'm sorry Ida. You helped us a lot. But it's time to leave this place."

Ida started to follow them while looking at both of them with concern.

"Are you really all right?"

"Of course"

After watching the two of them leave the park for the school, Ida didn't turn away and began to run after them.

"I'm a little worried about you, so I'll go with you to school."

"You don't need to trouble..."

"Don't worry, it's no trouble at all."

In fact, Ida was interested to know the reason why Takeshi had such a varied personality. Was he just pretending to be gentle, or was his attitude towards the guy who was going to run over his sister just because he had some pent-up anger? Whatever the case, he wanted to know. Takeshi didn't suspect any of that, and had no idea what to say to Ida, so he simply headed for the school in order to put an end to the pursuit of those guys once and for all.

Part 3

At around five o'clock in the afternoon, Takeshi appeared with Kurumi and Ida at the back door of the Sakuraya academy.

"We are fine now, you can go back home if you want." Takeshi said to Ida.

He had allowed Ida to accompany them to that point, but it was no longer convenient for him to stay with them. If he were to look at what would happen to the mirror, it would become a problem. Ida, however, who had no idea of anything, flatly refused and replied:

"Don't worry about me. I can come home late."

Takeshi was surprised by Ida's answer and turned to look Kurumi in the eyes with concern. She didn't know what to advise him and simply shook her head. The three of them continued on their way and because the back door of the institute was open, they were able to enter without any problems.

"Hey, why did you have to go back to school?" Ida asked.

"We just came to get something I forgot. That's why I was telling you that you didn't need to come with us." Takeshi answered conveniently.

Ida tilted her head thoughtfully and said:

"Wow, since I saw that you were talking on your cell phone and then said you were coming to school, I thought you were coming because someone was waiting for you here."

Apparently Ida had overheard part of the conversation Takeshi had with Mui over the phone and his speculation, despite not knowing anything, was very accurate.

"No, you see... it's just that today I had to return something I borrowed, but I left it forgotten here."

Although he was still confused, Ida completely believed Takeshi's story as it seemed congruent and nodded.

"I see... hun... hun... hun..."

Ida started to walk towards the high school building, but was suddenly stopped abruptly by Takeshi who grabbed him by his clothes.

"Ida, that's enough, I appreciate your help."

"Well, even if you tell me that, those strange guys might still be around. I can't just sit around with my arms crossed. I'm too used to action."

"that's because you're a brute." Kurumi said in complete shock.

Ida turned to look at Kurumi and replied:

"I'm no brute, and even if you see me that way, I'm not someone looking for trouble. Fighting is a very normal thing for a student to do."

"Fighting is not a normal thing!"

"What are you talking about? Even your boyfriend, he fights in the street."

At that statement, Kurumi frowned and said:

"Takeshi would never do that."

"Hey, do you think so?"

Ida turned to Takeshi with a suspicious look.

"I don't really like to fight." Takeshi clarified.

When Kurumi heard that statement, she smiled triumphantly saying:

"There you go."

"Ah... Well, even if you say that..." Ida muttered.

A few months ago, when Takeshi helped Futaba, he probably would have fought that guy for her. Maybe he didn't remember he was hiding it. But, even so, Ida had no intention of backing down and continued on his way silently to the classroom they belonged to. He had no intention of backing out, even if he was hiding that event, it was enough that he himself remembered it, so he continued steadily and silently towards the school where his classroom was located. However, Takeshi stopped him again immediately.

"Ida, seriously. You can't come with us anymore."

"but..."

Since they hadn't been able to get rid of him, Kurumi intervened:

"Thank you for your help, but stop being such a pain."

She had to speak harshly despite Ida's good intentions. And she spoke to him so clearly and directly, that Ida was soon in a bad mood and replied:

"For not being from Osaka, you have a very sharp tongue."

Kurumi rebutted:

"How dare you say that to me? I see that you not only look bad, you also talk bad."

"W-what are you saying?"

Ida pointed at Kurumi pretending to be scared.

"Nanase, you should reconsider being with her. I don't think it's going to lead to anything good. Even if she's cute on the outside, she's a witch on the inside."

Takeshi made a bitter smile thinking: "she's not a witch, I think it would be more correct to call her a "wizard" and then he answered:

"More or less..."

Hearing that, Kurumi turned to look quickly.

"Hey, Takeshi!"

"I'm kidding." Takeshi replied, raising his hand.

Kurumi then looked away. Then Takeshi turned to Ida:

"However, Ida, I'm serious when I tell you that you can't accompany us anymore. please go back home."

At Takeshi's insistence, Ida had no choice but to agree.

"Well, if you say you'll be all right, then I'll leave."

Ida went back through the back door where they had entered and Takeshi and Kurumi waited until he was out of sight. They looked around and there was no sign of their pursuers either.

"There must be a big mirror on the second floor of the building." Kurumi said.

Then Takeshi vaguely remembered: On the second floor of the school building where the classrooms were located, there were both personal lockers for storing shoes and for storing things, and right there, there was also a huge mirror donated by the graduates. However, Takeshi did not head straight for that place.

"Before we go there, there's a place I want to pass by."

He walked to the opposite side, heading for the Kendo Club room. Kurumi didn't ask any questions, and simply followed him.

Part 4

After passing by the kendo club, Takeshi and Kurumi headed to the school building where the first year classrooms were located. It was already past five in the afternoon, and all the other students had already left.

Although the teachers were probably still in the teachers's lounge, the school was already silent. Outside there was still daylight as the sun had not completely set, but as soon as they entered the school building, everything became very dark and the atmosphere had become a bit gloomy. The large room with the shoe lockers on the second floor was a wide hallway where the lockers were located on either side. Suddenly when they got there, Takeshi, felt shivers and looked around.

"What is this? I have a bad feeling..." thought Takeshi

And he wasn't wrong, because right behind the lockers, a man appeared. It was Oigami Takao from <the Trailers>. Seeing him, Takeshi quickly stretched his arms out to the sides and made Kurumi stand behind him.

"Wow, it's my lucky day! Oigami said with a big smile.

He immediately stood in front of the mirror Takeshi was looking for, which was installed on one of the columns of the place. Most likely, they had already foreseen what Takeshi would try to do.

"It seems that Ushiwaka was right." Oigami exclaimed.

As he smiled, he placed his hand on the hilt of one of the swords on his leather belt and then glared at Takeshi. For his part, Takeshi tightly clenched an object he was holding in his hands. Something he had gotten for the sole purpose of defending himself. However, he didn't think he would have to use it so soon. It was just before reaching where the lockers were, that Takeshi made a stop by the Kendo Club hall and picked up a wooden sword that a senpai had left behind.

"You are very stubborn." Takeshi commented in bewilderment.

Then, he raised the wooden sword he held in his right hand.

Possibly, there would already be one of them watching his house. Therefore, Takeshi was relieved that he hadn't run over there. If the Ghost Trailers had intercepted him at his house, his family would probably have been caught up in the affair. He wasn't going to let both Gekkou and his parents get into any more trouble because of him.

In response to Takeshi's gesture, Oigami also slowly drew one of the swords from its sheath.

"Of course." Oigami replied.

Wizards usually hide themselves very well and that's why it's hard for us to find them. But in your case, we even knew your address. So we weren't going to let you go just like that.

The wooden sword Takeshi held was heavier than the bamboo sword he normally used, but it had the advantage that it was much easier to handle with bare hands. Takeshi wondered how he was going to cope with Oigami.

If he let too much time pass, his allies would appear at any moment. And if that happened, he would be at a total disadvantage and with no chance of victory. His only alternative was to make it through the mirror, since they would not be able to follow them. As he had been told before: the Trailers would never enter the Academy because it was neutral territory.

They could not carry out battles inside the Academy, let alone take any wizard with them. However, Takeshi was afraid to fight Oigami again using only that wooden sword. His opponent's weapon was to be feared. He had previously managed to face him and escape, because he had been lucky and, on the other hand, he was also fully aware of Oigami's training and combat skills, for he did not move his sword just like that as he had thought at first.

Oigami with the mirror at his back, was at a distance of approximately about five meters from him. But it was not necessary to defeat him. He simply had to be made to move from there in order to escape to the Academy. Takeshi took a deep breath and, using that wooden sword, adopted a combat stance. Seeing that, Oigami adopted the same stance. However, there was one doubt that plagued Takeshi about the Trailers: He wondered why the Trailers had been chasing them so hard.

Takeshi and Kurumi were just a couple of rookies who knew nothing about magic, so there was no reason why the Trailers would try so hard to recruit them into their ranks. There was an undercurrent to the whole thing, so as he kept his wooden sword fixed on Oigami, he asked:

"I doubt very much that you actually want to join us to <the Trailers>, is your real plan to capture Mui?

Oigami was surprised to hear that so suddenly, and then smiled.

"Huh. So you got it. Well, I do. You see... Capturing wizards is the lowest-level job we have. Taking you guys away wouldn't really do us any good. It's the graduated wizards that are really worth it for <the Trailers>. However, Aiba Mui is different. That girl is on the same level as Tsuganashi. That's why we want to have her with us as quickly as possible. Aiba Mui is looking out for you guys, isn't she, for that reason if we capture you guys, she will eventually appear.

Takeshi was annoyed to hear that his guess was just as he had imagined. Then he said:

"What, a ridiculous reason like that?"

"I don't really like taking hostages. However, orders are orders so there's no other way." Oigami replied, twisting his mouth as if he was really bothered by the matter. Then Takeshi asked something else:

"Where are your friends?"

But obviously Oigami didn't answer that and instead asked:

"Do you think I'm going to tell you?"

Ta seemed that Ogami was not as dumb as he looked. However, Takeshi knew that time was running out for him, so he proceeded to hold his wooden sword tightly.

"You're right. Cut the chatter and get out of there."

"Are you really planning to face me using a wooden sword? This time I'm not going to give you a single blow."

"Don't worry, last time it was me who was holding back," Takeshi replied.

And seeing that said with a calm expression. Oigami showed his teeth in annoyance and replied:

"Even as a joke, that's irritating."

At that, Oigami quickly ran with his sword in front swinging it to attack Takeshi. But before he barely caught a glimpse of the silver line formed by the enemy sword, Takeshi clenched his teeth tightly. Just as Oigami had boasted earlier, it didn't look like he was going to throw a simple slap strike with the sword blade, as the blade came with the edge in front ready to kill anyone who came in contact with it. Still, he convinced himself that it was just a Kendo duel. He had practiced it for years and was ready for whatever came his way.

He quickly dodged that attack and with his wooden sword, repelled downward a second attack coming in the direction of his head. Oigami gave no rest and continued with multiple quick attacks. But Takeshi repelled each one as he swung his wooden sword back and forth, forcing Oigami to retreat.

For a moment they stood still as they stared at each other. That is until Oigami started again with his attacks, but this time, Takeshi didn't stay to wait for his attack and ran towards Oigami almost at the same time as him. Takeshi looked at his opponent's sword which, unlike his own, was a real one. Its edge moved with absolute swiftness.

However, he couldn't say the same about the one using it. That is why by calculating the angle of his hands holding the sword, its depth, strength, he was able to guess the point of descent of the blade and counter it with his wooden sword. And the moment both the real sword and the wooden sword crossed, they rubbed against each other producing an ugly sound.

The vibration made Takeshi's hands tremble. Oigami, contrary to what Takeshi expected, did not give in. On the contrary, Oigami seeing his sword imprisoned under Takeshi's wooden sword, released his sword with one of his hands from the sword and with the other proceeded to draw his other sword from the belt on the right side of his hip and with it, aimed at Takeshi's throat. However, his movements were still within Takeshi's prediction range. The blade of the sword passed to Takeshi's side, but instead, the wooden sword stabbed into Oigami's left shoulder.

"Damn... you..."

Although the blow was painful, Oigami still made a side attack with a horizontal slash towards Takeshi. However, that attack without force, only left him even more vulnerable. Takeshi, without a word, easily repelled that side attack coming from the right and taking advantage of the trajectory of his arm did a wrist flip and swung his arm back hitting Oigami's chest in the process.

"Guuuuuuu..."

Oigami raised a groan, and loosened his sword for the first time, and just at that moment, he moved a little away from mirror so Takeshi exclaimed:

"Isoshima! It's our chance! Go towards the mirror..."

"It can't be... I... I... I can't do it."

"You know how to do it, don't you?!" Takeshi shouted quickly as if trying to dispel Kurumi's fearful voice.

"Yes, I know how to do it, but... I can't leave you here."

At that moment, Oigami clutching his chest, looked up and glared at Takeshi with hate-filled eyes.

"Stop being distracted by her!" He exclaimed, adopting his stance again.

Oigami's posture was no longer as it was at the beginning and Takeshi seemed to have forgotten that he was wielding a wooden sword instead of a bamboo one which was more forceful. Perhaps it was his willpower, but, although Oigami was possessed of a fanatical physique, he did not deliver the blows as he should, but he did take them well. Oigami attacked this time, but Takeshi reacted immediately.

"Takeshi!!!" Kurumi shouted.

Both her shout and Takeshi's reaction happened almost at the same time. However, Oigami's sword penetrated a few centimeters into the edge of the wooden sword. Oigami had to pull hard to dislodge it, dropping pieces of splinters.

"Isoshima, please go away!"

It was much better for Takeshi that she, at least, had the chance to escape through the mirror since being there, she couldn't fully concentrate on the fight. Kurumi realized that, so she kept silent.

In the face of Oigami's fierce attack, Takeshi responded by defending himself and counterattacking, but his wooden sword had just been cut and cracked so it had become thin and fragile. Takeshi had to remove Oigami from in front of the mirror by any means necessary.

There was no need to defeat him. That was why he had been on the defensive, backing away periodically in order to lure Oigami towards him and eventually away from the mirror. Kurumi knew this. Therefore, she began to walk slowly and stealthily towards the mirror. And after advancing two meters, the fight between Takeshi and Oigami became serious. When Oigami attacked again and Takeshi blocked. Then, they took a moment which Takeshi took the opportunity to follow Kurumi's advance with his eyes. However, Oigami suddenly ran up and clashed his sword hard against Takeshi's wooden sword once again....

"H-hey!"

"Ah, what a nuisance. enough of fighting your way."

Takeshi was preparing to counterattack hard, but his right foot was suddenly stomped by Oigami.

"In a real fight, anything goes, and here, it will be no different." Oigami declared.

Suddenly, Takeshi received a blow to the temple from him, making him close his eyes involuntarily. The force of the blow stunned him, but he did not fall. When he opened his eyes again, the silhouette of Oigami's sword pommel was faintly reflected in them. He couldn't move back due to his right foot still being trampled.

"You couldn't move could you?"

Oigami hit Takeshi's side with his left fist which was unoccupied.

"Ah...?"

A second time, Takeshi was stunned which finally led him to lose his balance. As his gaze became blurry and the pain faded, he finally fell to his knees.

Seeing Takeshi in that state, Kurumi could not keep calm and shouted.

"Takeshi!"

But even though Kurumi wanted to help him, there was nothing she could do. Even being the manager of the kendo club, she had barely touched the bamboo swords a few times.

"I'm sorry, but it seems that, in real combat, I am superior." said Oigami.

Oigami again tried to hit Takeshi with the handle of the sword as, even with him on the ground, he had every intention of beating him up. But just at that moment, Kurumi raised a sudden shout.

"Haha, I did it! I finally caught you, sweetheart!"

Oigami stopped his hand and saw Ushiwaka, who had appeared from the shadow of a pillar, while holding Kurumi with a smile.

"What are you going to do now, mister hero?" Oigami asked Takeshi in a mocking tone.

After that, he kicked him making him lie completely on the ground.

"L-let me go...!" Kurumi shouted while struggling with Ushiwaka.

"Isoshima...!" shouted Takeshi.

However, already lying down, his voice sounded devoid of energy.

"Okay, Ushiwaka. Take her first."

"Roger that!"

After Oigami gave Ushiwaka directions by pointing to a place with his chin, Ushiwaka happily dragged Kurumi to the front of the mirror.

"Ta-Takeshi...!"

"Stop...! Take your hands off Isoshima...!"

Oigami stomped on Takeshi's back and burst out laughing saying:

"Ah? Instead of worrying about her, you should worry about yourself."

Ushiwaka for his part put his hand on the surface of the mirror.

"Well, sweetheart. It's time to take you to our HQ. After altering your memories, I will ask to make you my girl."

His intention was to open a portal in the mirror to take her to the collapsed world.

"No! Takeshiii...!!!"

Kurumi screamed in terror, but no matter how loudly she called out to him, Takeshi was unable to get up. Suddenly, a whimper was heard. one that came neither from Takeshi nor Kurumi. but from the smiling Ushiwaka. There was an arm sticking out of the mirror holding a gun and it had hit Ushiwaka hard on the head.

"Ugh..."

Ushiwaka let go of Kurumi and after stepping back a few steps, he fell to the ground. and from that mirror, a black-haired girl, wearing the uniform of Subaru Magic Academy emerged. She watched Ushikawa with Kurumi and then Takeshi with Oigami with a tense expression and said:

"I knew something like this would happen..."

"Mui..."

Oigami still on top of Takeshi who was showing some relief, smiled broadly and said:

"Ha... I knew you would come for this guy."

Takeshi blanched as he remembered that the real goal of Oigami and his henchmen was to capture Mui.

"Why did you come?" Takeshi reproached her.

Mui pursed his lips at the scolding and said:

"Didn't you want me to come?"

"It's just that, the target of these guys is actually you."

-Yes, I knew that already....

"Then why?..."

"because in spite of that, my top priority is to protect you, Takeshi-kun."

Mui raised his gun slowly pointing it at Oigami.

"Besides, I was the one who turned you into a wizard and I told you that I would take responsibility for the rest of my life."

"..."

Takeshi just stared silently at Mui, as if she had just shot him important feelings. However, Kurumi suddenly burst into the mood of both of them.

"Wait a second, what do you mean by all that?" She asked, looking at Mui with an expression of intolerance towards that last comment.

Mui noticed that, and held out her hand to Kurumi with concern.

"Are you okay, Isoshima-san?"

Mui was trying to help Kurumi, as she was on her knees.

"Let me...! I didn't ask for your help."

After refusing Mui's hand, Kurumi quickly stood up and pursed her lips, turning away in annoyance. Mui simply shrugged her shoulders, but in the next moment, Ushiwaka who was still lying on the ground, opened his eyes, sat up and shouted.

"Take this, 'Brocon' girl...!!!"

Immediately a magic circle made up of glowing red particles appeared on the ground just below him. From there, something flew out like arrows to hit Mui's right arm. She felt a painful sting, so she proceeded to quickly remove it from her arm. Said object, which had black and yellow stripes, fell near her feet.

"Uh... uh... what?"

On her arm, the insect's abdomen was still stuck, and even though it had been crushed, it was still trying to dig itself deeper into her skin. So she removed it completely and threw it away. However, the affected area immediately turn pale.

"Hahaha! My bee has stung you. As of this moment, you have 24 hours before your arm rots completely. But I can give you the antidote if you come with us."

Ushiwaka was looking at the face of the discolored Mui, and it was almost the same time when Oigami instantly threw a cold word making him notice the mistake he had made.

"You idiot!"

The moment Oigami muttered that regretfully, red particles started to come out of Ushiwaka's body.

"Huh...? What?"

The magic particles began to rise like water vapor from his arms, legs and from under his clothes. His hair began to rise and then his entire body began to slowly rise into the air as well.

Ushiwaka began to whimper being aware of what was about to happen to him. He started to call for help, but no one could reach him, as he was kicking three meters above the ground. The red particles expelled from Ushiwaka's body formed a red mist that began to swirl above his head in a whirlpool until it formed a funnel like a tornado which expanded even more.

But suddenly, everything stopped. That vortex of energy was expelled as if it had been swallowed by the dim sky, dropping Ushiwaka as if he were a puppet whose strings had just been cut, and then he fainted with his eyes wide open and completely blank.

"W-what was that?" Takeshi asked in a terrified voice. Oigami who still had his foot on him, answered:

"It is the effect of the spell called <Gift>. It happens to any wizard who, being in The living World, uses his systematic magical to attack an opponent for the purpose of harming him."

Oigami observed Ushikawa lying on the ground with a cold stare and then let out a spit saying:

"He has lost all his magic powers."

Takeshi watched Ushiwaka in terror, as if what he was looking at was his corpse, for it seemed that he had lost more than just his magic. It could be said that magic was like a vital force, and it was that vitality that had just been taken from him.

Mui with his face turning pale, passed the weapon from his right hand to his left and said:

"The living World, is like a cursed land for us wizards. We have rules we must abide by when we are here. Or else our magic is taken away from us forever."

"Wizard's rules?"

"That's right. <Gift> makes no distinction between <Trailers> and <Wizard's Breath>."

Hearing that, Oigami gritted his teeth and added:

"Right. It's a damn shitty spell that screws us all up equally."

"However, we can say that, thanks to that we've been able to keep the peace in this world." Mui clarified.

Oigami took his foot off Takeshi and objected to Mui's words.

"That's not quite true. <Gift> not only strips a wizard of his magic, but also steals it to give it to someone. What do they do with that stolen magic? The wizard who receive the stolen magic is from <Wizard's Breath>, right?

Mui said nothing and simply looked askance at Oigami who looked back at him in the same way.

"Well, whatever. It's not like I care. However, what I do care about is that we continue the fight, but even if I say that, how will you do it? You can't use your right arm and I doubt very much that the girl who only changes shape can be my opponent."

Using his left arm, Mui pointed his gun at Oigami who was laughing because his opponents were no longer up to the task and then said:

"We'll see..."

Takeshi was surprised to see Mui's intention to fight.

"Don't do it, Mui..."

If what he had just been told was true and Mui dared to attack Oigami, he would suffer the same fate as Ushiwaka and end up losing his magic. However, Mui completely ignored Takeshi's warning and without a word, pulled the trigger. A pale yellow flash shot out towards Oigami.

Quickly Mui fired two more quick shots behind the first. Takeshi turned his gaze towards Oigami almost involuntarily and could see that Mui's shot which seemed to be some kind of electric charge, deflected just inches away from Oigami's chest.

Likewise, the light aces of the other two shots did not hit Oigami either and were deflected sideways as if blocked by some kind of invisible barrier and ended up impacting a row of the metal lockers producing a shrill sound and leaving three huge holes in them. Oigami let out a merciless laugh at Takeshi who looked completely stunned at the result.

"Hey, Aiba Mui. You have no idea what my systematic magic is, do you?

"Oigami Takao... your systematic magic is evasive magic. You are a wizard capable of deflecting any spell by your ability called <Vanishing Cloud>. Even if you attack me while inside the living world, you will not be affected by <Gift> and deprived of your magic thanks to it."

At Mui's clear and concise answer, Oigami nodded with delight.

"Exactly. There is no magic that is capable of hitting me. And since you know that, it would be best if you gave up."

"..."

However, Mui stubbornly raised the barrel of his gun again and pointed it at Oigami once more saying:

"In that case, how about this...?"

Oigami stretched out her arms confidently waiting for the shot she was about to fire.

"<STARS!>"

The moment Mui exclaimed that word, a blinding flash shot out from the muzzle of the gun affecting not only Oigami but also Takeshi on the spot.

"Uaaa!"

They covered their eyes, but that intense white light was already engraved in their retinas.

"<FLOAT>" Mui exclaimed this time.

As soon as he heard Mui's voice, Takeshi felt his body rise from the ground. He had been set to levitate in the air as if propelled by a gust of air. And when he finally started to open his eyes with difficulty, he found Mui standing in front of him.

"Takeshi-kun, can you get up?"

Reacting to her call, Takeshi realized that Mui's strategy had been to use magic to distract Oigami away from him.

"I'm fine. But that was a bit rough what you did."

Shuffling his hand with the wooden sword held firmly, Takeshi forced his aching body to stand up.

"So it was just a distraction," Oigami muttered, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Magic isn't just for attacking." Mui replied smiling as he took a stance with his weapon.

However, just as Mui and Oigami were confronting each other again, a voice came from the side:

"What's happened, what's all this?"

Ida Kazumi was the one who entered the room holding a person in his arms and glancing around.

"Ida-kun!?"

"Ida!"

Kurumi and Takeshi involuntarily exclaimed his name.

"Who the hell are you and why do you have Hotaru with you?" asked Oigami, who seemed to be the only one puzzled by the sudden appearance of the unknown boy.

Ida had Hotaru with him, the other member of <the Trailers>.

"Well, when I met her, I tried to chat with her, but she suddenly attacked me. Since I was surprised, I punched her. Obviously at that instant I thought it was a guy. But my surprise was greater when I approached her and realized that she was actually a girl.

Ida was calmly explaining the matter while composing her striking blonde hair after having laid Hotaru down on the wall lockers.

"But why did you come back...?" Kurumi asked in surprise.

Ida simply shrugged his shoulders and answered:

"For nothing special. It's just that seeing these guys chasing them from the station to the school, I figured they would set some kind of ambush. Besides, when I talked to this girl, before attacking me she told me: 'you are one of his friends' So I guess they realized that I was with you."

Kurumi was aware of what could happen to Ida for coming back and then she said with concern:

"Ida-kun, run home as fast as you can before you get involved in this."

"Don't worry about that. I'm already involved anyway."

"You don't seem to know what you're getting into."

"It doesn't matter, I'll be fine. Or so I think..."

Kurumi ducked her head at Ida's words that were completely unfounded. Her warnings had gone in one ear Ida and out the other.

"Uwa! What's with your comically large sword? it is real?" Ida asked as he looked at the sword in Oigami's hand.

He then turned his gaze to Mui's gun and was completely dumbfounded. Kurumi was going to scold him, but as soon as she lifted her face and looked at him, her shocked expression became almost the same as his and she exclaimed:

"H-hey, Ida-kun!"

"What's wrong?"

"Y-your hand..."

Ida's right hand was glowing with an orange light.

"My hand...?"

Ida looked down and stared at his own hand. His eyes widened as he saw what was happening.

"UWAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

His hand, had become engulfed in flames from wrist to fingertips.

"What the hell is this!?"

The whole hand was rising smoke and flames as if it was holding a ball of fire.

"Did you absorb magic when you interacted with that girl?"

"Magic? What do you mean by that?"

Ida didn't know, but apparently, Hotaru had tried to attack Ida using magic just before she ended up being knocked out by him.

"We'd better get this over with once and for all," said Oigami as he watched Ida out of the corner of his eye.

"You're right," Mui replied without taking her eyes off Oigami for even a second.

They both proceeded to go on the offensive again. Oigami raised his sword and ran towards Mui. Whereas she, shook her gun sharply to the side, and unexpectedly the barrel of the gun elongated.

The two clashed colliding sword blade and gun barrel, which produced metal sparks that scattered. The gun that Mui held in his hand, had taken a strange shape as its barrel had elongated about sixty centimeters.

"Haa, interesting little toy you have." Oigami exclaimed.

And while laughing, he tried to wrap his arms around Mui to snatch the gun, but Mui quickly jumped back to get some distance. Mui's customized weapon, contained that feature to be able to block direct attacks at close range. However, it was still almost impossible for her to grapple against the huge blade of Oigami's sword using only one arm.

Therefore, Mui tried to utter another spell, but before she could even open her mouth, Oigami lunged at her to avoid it. The sword attack flying at high speed, was aimed at her side, but she blocked it again with the elongated barrel of her weapon. Her legs held firm during her block and she was not yet ready to react so quickly to a second move.

However, a second attack came from below. An attack she could not block with the elongated barrel of her gun. So she dodged as best she could the blade of Oigami's sword which managed to cut through her skirt. Immediately, it was followed by a flurry of rapid slashes that passed close to her head like silver flashes in a frenzy.

Mui quickly crouched down, shrunk as much as he could, balled up his small body and rolled to the right and then jumped like a spring away from there, avoiding any contact. However, he couldn't help but make a pained expression as, having thrown himself on the right side, he ended up hurting his arm, which was in bad shape. At that moment, both took a break and both Mui and Oigami, looked at each other with fury.

Takeshi was shocked watching the scene behind Mui's back.

"The bite on Mui's arm is getting worse," Takeshi thought.

He had noticed that a dark blue bruise-like coloration had spread from Mui's right arm, from the part where the bee had stung him, and extending to his chest up his neck becoming visible even on part of his head.

However, Mui had no time to complain about the pain. Oigami who did not wait any longer, lashed out with his sword again and Mui blocked again by wielding his elongated pistol with his left hand. However, since that was not her dominant hand, her strength was less so the pistol easily came loose and fell to the ground.

"Mui!" Takeshi exclaimed.

He knew that Oigami did not intend to kill her, but he would leave her seriously injured if he hit her with all his strength. However, just then another situation arose:

"T-Takeshi, what do I do?" Kurumi exclaimed while the reflection of large flames of fire was seen in her eyes.

"M-My hand... Impossible. How could this happen?"

Ida waved her hand trying to put out the fire, but the flames just spread everywhere. Kurumi thought it was strange, but still she had stood by Ida's side.

However, there came a time when she had to start to distance herself from him, because she couldn't stand the intense heat caused by those flames. Ida for her part clutched her hand tightly and began to rub her fist against the ground in an attempt to put out the fire.

Takeshi who had his full attention on the fight between Mui and Oigami, suddenly felt his hair stand on end. Something that seemed to be an imminent danger was approaching and he knew it somehow. Therefore, he forgot about the pain of his wounds and stood up. His pupils turned purple in that instant.

"Mui, take cover!!!!"

After having put Mui on overwatch, she immediately ran towards Kurumi who was standing about three meters away from Ida.

"Isoshimaaaaa!!!"

Takeshi threw himself on Kurumi.

"Gyaaaaaaa!!!"

and just at that moment, Ida raised a scream and there was an explosion that enveloped the whole place. Takeshi's ears were paralyzed and he couldn't hear anything due to the roar, but he could see that Kurumi was screaming.

"Kyaaaaaaaa...!!!"

"Isoshima!"

When the explosion occurred, the flames rising from Ida's hand had changed from orange, to a very bright yellow color that almost reached a white hue. Unable to open his eyes, Takeshi felt with his hand desperately searching for Kurumi.

The intuitive ability of his evasive magic had let him know that huge objects were about to fall. After a moment finally, his hand found Kurumi's arm so he pulled her to him and placed her under his body and then crouched down.

At that moment, the explosion caused the cracked ceiling of the hallway to collapse as if it had been split by lightning and immediately collapsed in a crashing manner. As debris of all sizes fell, Takeshi shielded Kurumi with his own body. Suddenly, a groan rose from the rubble.

"Huh huh..."

Takeshi stood up having been left inside a space left by large chunks of concrete, while coughing from the large amount of dust in the air. He could also hear Ida coughing just like him as she wondered about what had happened.

"Shit, how dusty it is here..." Murmured Oigami somewhere.

Takeshi heard him from the other side of the rubble. However, he was immediately horrified to hear him say something else:

"But well, now all that's left for me to do is to take this girl."

Takeshi stood up completely to make sure who Oigami was talking about. Kurumi was still underneath Takeshi and had remained completely still with her eyes tightly closed. However, when she felt Takeshi peel away from her a little, she opened them wide in complete terror.

"Isoshima, I want you to stay hidden in here..."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to meet that guy.

Both of them were talking in whispers because they were huddled so close to each other. When Takeshi made an attempt to get out of the hole in the rubble, Kurumi grabbed him by the sleeve.

"Takeshi..."

The anxiety and fear reflected in her eyes, combined with her trembling hand holding tightly to his shirt sent a clear message to Takeshi that said, "Don't go." However, Takeshi simply smiled at him. He then gently took Kurumi's hand and urged her to let go of him.

The place was still covered with dust everywhere. His eyes were dusty and he was tired, but, still, Takeshi walked silently towards Oigami's voice and after overcoming a few obstacles, he finally bumped into him. Oigami was holding Mui in his arms and although she looked limp and unconscious, she didn't seem to have suffered any serious injuries from the collapse.

"Let Mui go..."

Climbing over part of the collapsed roof, Takeshi jumped out in front of Oigami. The latter noticing Takeshi, smiled broadly and said:

"You're more stubborn than I thought you were, you bastard..."

Oigami examined Takeshi from head to toe and realized that Takeshi had not suffered any injuries from the fall either. Then Takeshi raised his hand with the wooden sword in a threatening manner and Oigami laughed saying:

"I see you haven't had enough?"

Takeshi had been lucky enough to find his wooden sword, as he walked out of the rubble and went in search of Oigami. Takeshi didn't answer anything and then Oigami added:

"Well, in that case, this will be the decisive battle?"

Oigami pulled out his sword from his belt again and dropped Mui to the ground. After that he laughed at Takeshi once again even though Takeshi was staring at him with hostility. A small stone tumbled down from what was left of the scaffolding slowly falling until it reached the rest of the rubble scattered on the ground, and when it did, the battle abruptly began.

Takeshi's wooden sword once again met Oigami's sword despite having been cut by it earlier. Immediately as they struggled, the two exchanged positions.

"Ha ha ha, I knew it, you are a more suitable opponent for me..." Oigami exclaimed by way of praise.

Meanwhile, he slowly took a step back and they separated their swords.

"You didn't even hold back with Mui did you?" Takeshi replied as he defended himself.

"It would be stupid to underestimate Aiba Mui..."

Takeshi was annoyed by that teasing attitude Oigami had. Meanwhile, they were clashing, separating and clashing their swords violently again.

Oigami looked Takeshi in the eyes. Those black eyes that were always full of kindness and mercy were now suffused with fury and fear. Something was wrong, however, because that was not the look Oigami wanted to see.

"Instead of looking after your fallen friends, you're looking to take Mui with you at any cost, aren't you?" Takeshi exclaimed.

Oigami blocked a side attack from Takeshi's wooden sword and replied:

"Friends? you mean that pair of useless. They're nothing but a nuisance."

After that, Oigami stepped back and lashed out with more force. However, Takeshi simply avoided him and calmly stepped back. Even so, his pupils were still black in color.

"What can I say...? We <Trailers> aren't known for being very friendly. However, the same goes for the <Wizard's Breath>. -Oigami said, laughing at his own words.

"Someone like you has no right to have partners." Takeshi replied.

Hearing that, Oigami spat out a laugh which he couldn't contain.

He thought it was so funny that he even took a moment to laugh openly and even leaned over to do so. Takeshi glared at him furiously at that. But after a moment, Oigami raised his face again, but it was no longer laughter that showed, but contempt.

"You neither..." Oigami said.

"Me?"

Takeshi stood expectantly at what Oigami had said, but before he did, Oigami slung his sword over his shoulder and began to walk to the front saying:

"Don't you realize?"

After that, Oigami raised his sword and attacked. Takeshi raised his wooden sword quickly and both artifacts clashed and stayed crossed as if they were stuck together as they both pushed each other.

"You and I are the same..." Oigami said, lowering his face as he pushed.

"What are you talking about?"

"That's right, you don't have any friends. I can see that. You don't let hardly anyone get close to you. And those who do, don't do it sincerely, do they?"

Laughing confidently as he spoke. Oigami watched Takeshi fixedly as if trying to discover something inside him. Puzzled, Takeshi tried to step back and pull his sword away from Oigami's, but was unable to do so.

"You're wrong..." Takeshi replied.

In the midst of confusion, Oigami's eyes turned to look past Takeshi and he said:

"I may be wrong. However, if you say that you are not the same as me, then now that you have become a wizard, surely you must have told someone, right? Someone capable of understanding what happened to you. Or was it not so? Obviously you didn't because you don't have anyone you trust enough to tell that to."

"..."

"Why didn't you tell your classmates? How about the Kendo club?"

Takeshi's hand with the wooden sword began to tremble a little.

"That's enough..." Takeshi said in a low, hesitant voice.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Oigami's eyes changed from those of a mocking type, to those of someone who judges coldly and was exercising such judgment on Takeshi.

"Stop it..." Takeshi muttered again unconsciously.

"What about your family? Didn't you tell them anything?"

"I just told you to stop..."

"Why didn't you tell your little brother?"

At that moment, Oigami stepped back as he saw that Takeshi was going into a fit of rage.

"Shut up!!!"

After having escaped the reach of Takeshi's sword, Oigami started laughing with delight.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa!!!"

Takeshi's eyes slowly began to change from their black hue to a bright purple.

"I look like someone cold who doesn't care about anyone, right? However, you're the same way." Oigami said again.

Hearing Oigami's taunts, Takeshi twisted his mouth and shouted:

"Shut up!!!"

Takeshi didn't want to hear any more and succumbed to anger, which Oigami saw as a valuable opportunity.

"Ha, Idiot!" Oigami exclaimed.

And as he sneered, he raised his sword in an upward swing with which he struck the wooden sword in Takeshi's hand leaving an opening which Oigami took advantage of to throw a heavy blow with his sword aimed at Takeshi's temple. The blow left Takeshi seeing lights as his body bowed slightly.

"Damn...!"

Takeshi tried to stay conscious as much as he could, but in the end he wasn't able to.

"Oh, no. Mui ha..."

Takeshi ended up slowly closing his eyes as he collapsed on the ground. At that precise moment, Mui was just beginning to regain consciousness and managed to faintly see Takeshi falling.

"Takeshi... kun...?

She managed as best she could to fully wake up and see that what she had just seen was not a hallucination.

"Takeshi-kun!!! she shouted.

A large amount of blood began to descend from the area of Takeshi's left ear staining the floor where he was lying red.

"Oh shoot! I think I ended up killing him in the end..." Oigami commented as he raised his sword and stared at its edge.

His intention was to just give him a flat blow with the blade, but the angle wasn't right.

"Takeshi-kuuuuun!!!" Mui shouted once again.

She still couldn't move her legs so she just called out Takeshi repeatedly.

"Keep quiet, Aiba Mui!"

"Takeshi-kun, please get up!!!" Mui shouted again.

Then Oigami turned around leaving Takeshi lying down, and started walking towards Mui.

"He won't get up anymore. I just smashed his head in. Ha ha... It would be scary if he got up in that condition." Oigami commented as he shrugged his shoulders.

It turns out that when Takeshi fell to the ground, he wasn't moving a bit anymore.

"You're lying...!!!" Mui exclaimed.

"You say I'm lying? Didn't you just see it with your own eyes?"

Oigami stood right in front of her, smiled and bowed saying:

"You look like a scared rabbit."

He then grabbed Mui by her clothes, forcing her to stand up.

"Kyaaa!"

"Wow, such a small girl is a user of Acceleration Magic. It seems that God is usually very cruel too."

"Let me go!"

In her hand, she was holding the pistol she had dropped earlier. He was holding it because when that happened, he quickly picked it up. Its long barrel had retracted and returned to its original shape. Therefore, Mui pointed it at Oigami.

"The gun again? Well, you can't use your right arm anymore, so I have no choice..."

Oigami sheathed his sword back into his belt and grabbed Mui's left arm.

"I'm going to have to break it..."

In the next moment, Mui's screams flooded the place. Her voice was heard by Kurumi and Ida, even though they were far away and couldn't see anything because of the debris. both were completely shocked to hear her scream.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!"

The pain of her arm being broken was unbearable and Mui was crying heartbreakingly.

"Hey, don't cry. I'm sorry to do this, but don't worry. I'll heal it later."

Oigami finally let go of Mui's left arm, but it hung limp and limp. He had already broken her bones and although she no longer wanted to cry, tears still overflowed from her eyes involuntarily. Oigami glared at Mui while behind her back, Takeshi who was lying on the ground, began to flick his eyelids slightly.

"M....u..... i.....?"

He could hear deep in his consciousness the piercing screams of a person whom he immediately identified. However, it was unlikely that he would be able to get up.

"Uuuugh..."

In addition to already having her right arm progressively rotting away, her left arm was now broken so Mui was completely helpless. The pain was terrible, but she was overcome with frustration at not being able to do anything else.

"I told him I was going to protect him and I couldn't do it."

"I involved Takeshi-kun in this and now he's in that state."

"I really am completely useless."

Mui had already lost her brother Tsuganashi to the Trailers and to think that they could take Takeshi too, devastated her soul.

"Breaking your bones a couple of times helps make you tougher. So don't worry about that." Oigami said with a smile, seeing Mui with a pale face.

Even in the midst of her despair, Mui raised her tearful face to confront Oigami. However, what was reflected in her gaze was something different than expected.

"Huh...?"

Involuntarily her tears stopped and all the mixed emotions Mui had-including anger-simply flew away.

"What? What's wrong with you?" Oigami asked when he saw the strange expression that had emerged on her face.

"Don't you dare touch Mui..."

Oigami quickly turned around to see who was talking to him and tried to unsheathe his sword, but he didn't have time to do so.

"Kuuuu....!"

As a result, he was hit hard in the stomach with the wooden sword, knocking him back several steps. Mui looked at Takeshi with an expression of utter astonishment.

"Takeshi-kun...? Your eyes..."

She had seen Takeshi's eyes turn purple before. However, this time it was different as inside the pupils, magic circles were displayed. Said circles, could be seen so clearly that each of the patterns of which they were composed could be appreciated in detail

"Those are circles of evasive magic," said Mui to herself.

While it is true, any wizard was perfectly capable of summoning such magic circles. However, these only appeared at the moment when they were going to use magic that belonged to their systematci magic category, and after that, the particles that formed them, dispersed quickly. They never lingered for long.

Mui had no idea when Takeshi's magic manifested, but what she was sure of was that she had never seen Evasive Magic manifest so clearly and cleanly before. Not even her older brother Tsuganashi, whose magic circle stayed around his hand for several seconds when using his ice magic, could hold it for so long. The magic circles did not disappear from Takeshi's eyes nor did they dim, even if he blinked.

"Can he really use Evasive Magic for that long?"

"How is that possible?"

Of course there was magic capable of staying in use for a long time as was the case with Illusory Magic category. However, it was the same case as the other systematic magic as even if the effect of illusiory magic was maintained, the magic circle only appeared when the magic was summoned at first and then disappeared.

"There is supposed to be a limit of magic particles for a person's use..."

If magic is used for too long, it runs out and cannot be used until it regains strength again.

"Will he be keeping his magic pores open without realizing that?"

For such a reason, if she didn't stop as soon as possible, she would fall to the ground just like Ushiwaka even if it wasn't because of "Gift".

"Take it easy, I'll be done very soon." Said Takeshi smiling and looking at Mui with his eyes lit in purple color, after having pulled Oigami away from her.

"Will you finish soon?" Mui asked with her gaze completely lost in Takeshi's eyes.

"Ha ha ha ha. You say you'll be done soon? Don't come out with bullshit, you bastard." Oigami exclaimed, drawing his sword while holding his stomach.

Takeshi didn't even turn to look at him.

Oigami gritted his teeth and tried to attack with his sword through a blind spot. However:

"What?"

Takeshi didn't even bother to look back, and it only took a small movement of his arm to knock the sword out of his hands. Slowly Takeshi turned his gaze towards Oigami and unlike the kind look he was giving Mui, this time his gaze looked cold.

"You'd better give up. If you don't do better than this, you won't stand a chance."

Oigami was surprised to hear how calm and carefree Takeshi's voice sounded.

"Aah?! I have no idea what you're talking about?"

Enraged, Oigami picked up his sword.

"If I'm honest, I don't know what I'm talking about either." Takeshi replied.

As he spoke, Takeshi began to walk slowly. He received a second attack and then a third one, but he dodged them easily and without any effort.

"It's useless, your attacks can't hit me." Takeshi declared.

Oigami continued to attack relentlessly, but Takeshi continued to dodge easily.

Meanwhile, Mui was trying to pick up his gun that was lying on the ground. However, when she barely managed to lift it, she dropped it due to the intense pain in her left arm.

"Tsk...."

The pain was causing his tears to come out and blur his vision. But, still, he picked up the weapon again and finally lifted it.

"uh...! <FLOAT!>"

Uttering the spell under her breath, she applied levitation magic to make her gun weightless so she could wield it. Oigami was completely overwhelmed by Takeshi, so he didn't notice the movements she was making.

"<LIBERATE!>" Mui exclaimed.

An intermediate level wizard was the minimum requirement to be able to use spells pertaining to systematic magic. The reason for that was the extraordinary amount of magical power required. However, despite being aware of that immense drain of energy, Mui was convinced that it was necessary to do so.

"Takeshi-kun...don't go on anymore...at this rate your magic will be completely exhausted."

Pale yellow magic particles, began to sprout from Mui's malfunctioning arms, to the palm of his hands and then transferred to the gun which began to emit a golden glow from within. Upon being released by the aforementioned spell, the gun lengthened the length of its barrel to more than twice the length of what a police baton would be, thus changing its shape to prepare for a very powerful shot. As best she could, she readied her broken left arm so that she could pull the trigger while holding the barrel with her rotting right arm.

"Awaken and serve me, god of lightning. Make my soul glow."

The <Float> magic Mui had used earlier began to transfer to her through her gun and her body slowly levitated.

"Fill me with your energy. Resonate and pierce!"

The particles that began to accumulate in the muzzle of the cannon began to increase in brightness and then Takeshi and Oigami finally realized what Mui was doing.

"Mui!?"

Takeshi was impressed to see Mui holding that weapon never seen by him before, while Oigami scoffed saying:

"What an idiot you are, don't you remember that no magic can hit me?"

The matter was complicated, because even if he managed to hit the target, Mui would end up losing his magic as a result. It was normal for Oigami to think she was foolish. However, Takeshi's evasive magic was still active for some reason.

"Melt it all! <MELT PROYECTION!!!>"

The moment she finished chantting her spell, a huge magic circle appeared right at the muzzle of the cannon, followed by light beam exploding and shooting out expelling high concentrated heat. Takeshi ducked his face and took a big leap backwards. Oigami on the other hand, had full confidence of his evasive magic ability so he did not move from his place. The two were separated by the lightning, which filled the whole place with a golden light that could be perceived even with closed eyes. At the same time, the ground shook as if an explosion had occurred. As expected Mui's thermoelectric discharge was not able to break through Oigami's barrier. However...

"Aah?"

Because Oigami's barrier was an ability that repell all magic fired at it, Mui's shot bounced off it and then started bouncing in various places until it finally hit the ground penetrating it and melting it due to its high heat. The ground sank causing Oigami's foothold to disappear and he lost his balance. As he fell, he could see the silhouette of who appeared to be Takeshi standing in front of him and that great glow. There was no doubt that it was all because of his magical power. Takeshi had dodged all of Mui's magic that had bounced off his own body.

"Impossible..."

Takeshi instinctively knew the trajectory the lightning took as it bounced off, thanks to his Evasive Magic.

"Damn....!!!"

Oigami then stabbed his sword into the ground to avoid falling into the hole and when he raised his face, he pulled the sword out to try to swing it against Takeshi. However, the latter was no longer there. and could not see around to look for him due to the great glow.

"What...?"

Oigami was completely shocked and speechless. Takeshi was right in front of his eyes and then he was no longer there, but standing beside him with his eyes closed.

"Didn't I tell you already?" Takeshi commented.

Because of the intense light, Oigami was not able to see the movements of Takeshi's wooden sword.

"You lost."

Oigami received a strong blow without knowing where it came from, which fractured his knees making him to fall.

"Ga...!"

With an expression of pain and surprise, Oigami Takao fell to the ground. His sword came loose from his hand, but he didn't notice.

After he landed that heavy blow, Takeshi didn't move from his place until the beam of light shot by Mui faded away.

"Takeshi-kun..."

Mui let go of his gun and the levitation magic stopped and he approached with his damaged arms placed in front of his chest. Moments later, something happened to Takeshi. The magic circles in his eyes finally disappeared and the purple light in them slowly faded. In the end, Takeshi collapsed to the ground like a rag doll lying next to Oigami.

"Takeshi-kun!"

Mui's worried voice was not able to reach him and his consciousness faded away due to the severe wound on his head which was bleeding staining his face red.

Part 5

"W-where am I...?" Takeshi muttered, after opening his eyes and seeing a strange white ceiling.

Instantly, two faces approached his field of vision.

"You've finally woken up."

"You're a fool!"

It was Mui and Kurumi who had been watching Takeshi while he slept. Mui had a worried expression while Kurumi looked annoyed.

"Calling me a fool just after waking up, don't you think it's a bit rude Isoshima?"

Takeshi found it strange that he didn't feel pain in his head or any other part of his body after waking up.

"Nothing like that! You're a real fool! Just look at the state of you...!"

After seeing Kurumi standing on the side of the bed, annoyed and with her hands on her hips, Takeshi shrugged his shoulders and turned to the other side of the bed where Mui was standing to talk to her.

"Mui, I..."

However, he very simply smiled and said:

"Kurumi and I, we were very worried about you, Takeshi-kun."

However, when Kurumi heard that, she frowned and complained:

"Hey, who gave you permission to use my name?"

"I can't?"

"Not without my permission."

Kurumi seemed to be angry that Mui called her by name, and as they talked to each other, Takeshi looked at them alternately and then ducked his head. Incidentally, it was the first time the two had spoken to each other. They had seen each other before, but when that happened, Kurumi was very angry so this was the first time the two had held a dialogue. Although Kurumi was actually scolding Mui for calling her name and Mui, for some strange reason, was nodding to everything Kurumi said.

"Yes, you're right, I shouldn't have called you by your name, I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't make that face either, don't make me look like I'm the villainess."

While listening to them, Takeshi laughed.

"What are you laughing about?" Kurumi asked, looking at Takeshi aggressively.

Takeshi couldn't stop laughing and answered:

"nothing, it's just that, I think Mui and you, could get along quite well."

"Of course not!"

Kurumi flatly refused at that idea, but Mui, on the contrary, showed a smile.

"Huh? Friends? Kurumi and I?"

Possibly the personalities of each were different.

"This is the first time I've seen someone, coping very well with Isoshima's attitude."

"I'm sure these two will be able to get along perfectly."

Takeshi was still smiling as Kurumi and Mui standing on either side of the bed, continued their discussion.

"Hey, you did it again?" Kurumi said.

"Did what?" Mui asked.

"You called me by my name again!

"It's just that it's so complicated to call you 'Isoshima-san'. I feel like I'm going to bite my tongue if I say it."

Mui slightly stuck out her tongue after saying that sentence. Certainly pronouncing the surname Isoshima was a bit difficult. And meanwhile, Takeshi was trying to laugh behind Kurumi's back but...

"Takeshi, stop laughing right now!"

Kurumi was being very angry, while Mui was more bearable so she seemed to be having fun.

"I'm not going to get along with you, so don't treat me in such a familiar way."

Kurumi turned away from looking Mui in the face and Mui's smile turned into a bitter laugh. Amidst the awkward silence that followed, Takeshi noticed that Mui's left arm was bandaged and swollen.

"Mui, how are your arms?"

Remembering then, that Mui had been severely injured during the battle, he turned his gaze to Mui's right arm and neck.

"Don't worry. After what happened, I quickly contacted <Wizard's Breath>. They brought us to the infirmary of this academy and already treated our wounds."

Mui's right arm no longer had that strange dark blue color. Nor did her neck have that infection.

"They treated us? I see... But did they use magic to do that?"

"Yes," Mui replied, nodding happily.

However, a voice from the center of the room broke in:

"Even if so, magic only speeds up the healing process, the pain will still be present. Only real fools get into absurd fights." A young woman said.

The person speaking as he approached was a woman in her mid-twenties, wearing red-rimmed glasses. She wore a white gown so it was intuited that she was the academy's nurse. Her breasts were so large that were not able to stay inside the gown.

"Hyoudou-sensei..." Mui muttered.

For some reason, behind the nurse, Ida was smiling.

"Ida?"

"Well, I'm surprised it's all over." Ida commented.

Takeshi smiled when he saw that Ida was still the same as always.

The nurse, Hyoudou Nanami who was also working as the Biological Magic teacher, looked at Takeshi and Mui and then shook her head saying:

"Holy cow... you guys just came to give me more work than necessary."

She with all the sincerity of the mute, showed her displeasure and discontent. So when she approached the bed, she pulled off Takeshi's sheet and added:

"If you're feeling better now, then go on, go on! Momo-tan wants to talk to you. Hurry up! Get out of here, you little wizards!"

If they had stayed any longer, the nurse might have kicked them out. Mui and Kurumi were the first to run out of the infirmary after being spanked by the nurse. As for Ida, she had no choice but to wander down the corridor.

"M-Momo-tan?" Takeshi asked while still lying on the bed.

Hearing that name, Nanami's eyes began to sparkle with excitement.

"Yes, Momo-tan! The supreme existence that can only be the work of God's wisdom."

"Ah?"

"There is no girl in the world who is as cute, as strong and yet as gloomy as her."

"E-ehm..."

Puzzled, Takeshi noticed Mui, Kurumi and even Ida, looking at him from the door of the infirmary and signaling him to get out of there.

"Well, thank you very much for your treatment. I think I'm feeling better now too."

For some reason, Takeshi left Nanami with his hands in the air after she was going to check his head, and left in a hurry. When he finally came out of the infirmary, Mui explained to them:

"She was referring to the headmistress"

According to Mui, the person Nanami praised and exalted so much was none other than the headmistress of the academy.

"She used to call her 'Momo-tan'" Mui added.

Undoubtedly, the name "Momo-tan" suited the headmistress's appearance quite well. Then Takeshi touched his head with some trepidation and asked her:

"Hey... What happened to those guys?"

Since he had been bleeding a lot, the wound on his head had to be very serious, but he didn't feel any pain despite touching himself. And as he continued to rub his hair, Mui answered:

"Oigami Takao and the other two, are in <Wizard's Breath>'s custody."

it was obvious, because when there is a war, it is normal to be captured by the enemy, or, on the contrary, to take enemies as prisoners.

"What are you going to do with them?" Takeshi asked.

However, Mui evaded the question and talked about something else:

"We'd better go see the headmistress. She is waiting for us."

After having said that, the four of them left the infirmary behind, and headed for the principal's office.

Part 6

When Takeshi fainted, Mui contacted the Wizard Breath mages who arrived on the scene to clean up, open the portal in the mirror and take the four of them to the academy. Takeshi never heard from Ida again after the roof collapsed, but in Ida's own words, when the explosion happened, he was unharmed because the flames from his hand spread out and destroyed the pieces of concrete that were going to fall on him.

It was quite an eye-catching thing to do, wasn't it?

Entering the director's office, Principal Shijou said, "I'm sorry.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Mui said hurriedly while ducking her head.

Takeshi and Kurumi stood while Ida looked around curiously.

"The scandal at Sakuraya Academy is over now and the repairs are also finished. So don't worry."

Takeshi was impressed by what the headmistress had just said and asked:

"Did they do it with magic?"

"That's right. However, I must say that it's been a long time since the last time there were three students transferred from the same academy."

The headmistress left her desk that was next to the window and approached the three stopping right in front of Ida.

"Ida Kazumi-kun..."

"Hey, are you really the headmistress? But you're just a little girl."

The headmistress simply ignored what Ida had just said.

"Unlike those two, it's more complicated keeping control of your magic. I know it's a hassle, but I'm offering you the option of taking that magic away. Make up your mind right now."

Suddenly, Takeshi asked before Ida:

"Will you use <Gift> on him?"

"That's right. I see you've already been told about it."

Takeshi had witnessed what the spell called <Gift> did to wizards when it took away their magic, and he didn't like the idea of Ida being subjected to it at all. The headmistress's words, however, implied that Ida's magic was very dangerous.

"I don't understand anything, but is it true that Nanase and Isoshima are wizards?"

"That's right, and now you are too."

Ida scratched his nose when heard that. He was able to do so because those terrible flames were no longer emanating from his hand. Mui had talked to Ida about wizards before going into the mirror with the others. Of course he was suspicious at first, but when he saw that there was a world beyond the mirror, his doubts turned completely into curiosity and he was impressed to see the facilities of the Magic Academy.

"So, if I say yes, will I go back to being an ordinary person, forget everything that happened and continue with my normal life?"

When Ida summed it all up in the worst possible way, the headmistress smiled wryly.

"Well, yes, more or less. Destructive Magic is a difficult systematic magic. Needless to say, it is a magic that hurts others and is not good for those who cannot make decisions quickly."

"I don't like hurting other people," Ida muttered.

Then she raised his face and looked directly at the headmistress.

"But I can't just walk away after getting involved. This is all my responsibility from the moment I decided to help them with their pursuers. So, whatever happens, I choose to be a wizard. Even if it's hard, I'll do my best."

"Well, in that case, you will live as a wizard user of destructive fire magic."

Ida nodded at the headmistress's confirmation and said:

"All right, after all, we humans, we are able to overcome anything if we start from the beginning."

"Nanase Takeshi-kun. The same goes for you."

The next one to talk to the headmistress was Takeshi.

"Me?"

"However, within that branch, very few have the 'Intuition' skill. I'm sure <the Trailers> will wait until you learn to control it and other communities will also be interested. If you succeed, it will be a very useful skill in combat."

It was clear that the only thing Takeshi aspired to was Kendo and he himself made it clear from the beginning.

"I have no intention of fighting in a way that has nothing to do with the sport."

Certainly he had already faced Oigami in a "non-sporting" way, but Takeshi firmly believed that it was only for reasons of force majeure. The headmistress nodded without question. After all, there was no reason for him to have to fight <the Trailers>. Then Takeshi turned to look at Mui who was standing by the door silently. He knew that she was just fighting <the Trailers>, so that she could rescue her brother. However, she kept her eyes down, as she seemed to be uninterested in the headmistress's conversation with Takeshi and his friends.

"Okay, you three will stay in the academy dormitories from now on. Going back to the living world is dangerous so you won't be able to come here from your homes."

The headmistress went to her desk and took some books that said on their cover 'Subaru Magic Academy Admission Handbook' and handed one to each of them. But suddenly, Ida stood up and shouted:

"Wait a second!"

"What's wrong Ida-kun?"

Ida held out his palm to the perplexed look of the headmistress.

"I can't do this. I have to take care of Futaba."

"Futaba-san?"

"She's my little sister. My mother is a nurse and works nights most of the time. She can't take her to school."

"What about your father?" Kurumi asked.

Ida answered bluntly:

"My dad died six years ago."

The headmistress tilted her head doubtfully, but then nodded.

"I understand. Well, in that case, I'll do something special for you. From here, I'm going to place a magical barrier around your house. That will serve as protection and no wizard will be able to penetrate it. Not even <the Trailers>. However, the barrier will have no effect on ordinary humans.

"Thank you very much!" Ida exclaimed.

When the problem of Ida's house was solved, Takeshi thought about his own and asked:

"Did you tell our parents about the transfer?"

"Don't worry about that. We've already planned all that. Transferring here, it will be like transferring to any boarding school in the living World. Your family won't suspect anything... I think so."

Strangely, there was a pause at that last thing said by the headmistress, but Mui was the only one to notice. Kurumi, for her part, let out a small sigh and spoke with full conviction:

"I don't care where I go, as long as I can be with Takeshi."

Takeshi looked at Kurumi who was waiting for his approval, and he couldn't help but have mixed feelings, as he knew that she was aware that it was much better for he to stay in the dormitories, than to be in his own house. Anyway, it didn't matter if he was present, for he was completely ignored. And yet, he kept trying to make conversation with Gekkou.

"I'm sure he can still forgive me," Takeshi thought.

However, it was about time to give up the fight, because the progress had been nil.

The headmistress waited for Takeshi's answer. Then, he finally raised his face, looked at her and said:

"I'll stay too."

"Perfect, then that's it. Now, regarding your classroom, you will be in the first year of high school. As you are still beginner wizards, you will start from the basic level. Therefore, you will be in the C class of the first year. All the wizards in that class are beginners like you."

"What about Mui?" Takeshi asked, curious about the class she was enrolled in.

At that moment the headmistress clasped her hands together with a clap and said:

"That's right! Aiba-kun... You told me you wanted a punishment right?"

"That's right, headmistress." Mui replied, approaching from the office door.

She had a worried expression because of the punishment she was about to receive. Anxiety was killing her.

"You'll be sent to class C, too."

"Huh?"

"You are an intermediate level wizard and were in a special group within the S class. However, as of tomorrow you will be in the C class with them."

"Wait, you can't do that, I..."

"The matter of Aiba Tsuganashi is beyond your capabilities. <Wizard's Breath> will take care of rescuing him. I've told you that before."

"..."

"I know that you are also a wizard who belongs to <Wizard's Breath>. However, you are also a student of this institution and as the headmistress, it is my duty to reprimand you for your reckless behavior."

The headmistress had stopped smiling. It was the first time Takeshi had seen the headmistress get serious and when she did, she looked like a real adult.

On the other hand, Mui seemed to be annoyed and looking out of the corner of her eye towards nothing, she muttered:

"B-but... I wasn't to blame for the other two...."

"That doesn't matter. You asked me for a punishment and I'm giving it to you. For that reason, you will also have to take responsibility for the other two of them and accept the punishment as an act of comradeship."

"But I..."

Mui, raised her face and then the headmistress showed her a small smile and said to her:

"You harmed yourself. So let's not give the matter any more thought."

"..."

"Now go, Aiba-kun. show them where the dormitories are."

All Mui could do about it, as the headmistress returned to her desk by the window, was to accept it.

"Yes ma'am"

From that day on, Takeshi and company became students of the Subaru School of Magic.

Translator's Notes and References

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